Editing FastTracker 2 (section)

=== Instruments ===
Instruments are essentially arrays of samples with additional convenience features.<ref>[http://www.milkytracker.org/docs/FT2.pdf FT2 v2.08 manual] Chapter FAQ (1996)</ref> A musician can assign different samples to different pitches of the sound, thus eliminating the possibility of a sample sounding bad if played too high or too low. Instruments support various loopable envelopes to be set on either the sound volume or the stereo panning, as well as built-in [[vibrato]]. It is also possible to set the generic settings of the instrument here: fine-tuning, default volume, default panning and relative starting note to C-4.

FT2 can get input from a normal [[PS/2 keyboard]] and make a live record with it (in the [[QWERTY]] keyboard layout, "q" would map to C, "2" would map to C#, "w" would map to D, etc.). FT2 was popular with many musicians who didn't have MIDI-compatible keyboards as they could experience live recording without any equipment other than a PC running DOS.